Arches National Park + Canyonlands National Park + Grand Canyon National Park
As soon as we realized our wedding season would be squished into 3 short months (31 weddings/elopements or sessions in 15 weeks), we knew we needed to set a goal for ourselves: survive this insane year and in November we’ll take the boys on a roadtrip to Utah & Arizona to see some of our favorite National Parks and get the heck away for a bit.
Well, we survived. We bought a camper (this time for CAMPING not for living) and we took the boys on a trip. We planned to head all the way to Lake Tahoe, stretching our trip over the course of 3 weeks or so, but 2020 struck, our camper broke down, and we headed back home just over a week after we left. With three little boys, though, three weeks of camping was likely too ambitious a goal, and we’re absolutely stoked with everything we got to see and experience.
“First up, Grampa Ron’s. Next stop, MOAB!” – our kids.
We visited Moab, Utah first and went to Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, and Canyonlands National Park. Utah has quickly become our favorite place to visit. It’s so close to where we are – just over a 4 hour trip from Breckenridge (or just 2 hours from Grampa Ron’s house, where we tend to make a pit-stop every time we head out there AND when we’re coming back home). We all loved every second of it. I was most in total awe at Dead Horse Point National Park. So much beauty! The boys ran and played in the desert and ate a ton of dirt. We also talked a lot about all the dinosaurs that probably lived in all the parks we visited. Neeson was super concerned about the “ones that probably fell off all the cliffs into the canyons.”
After a drive through Monument Valley – WHAT IS THIS PLACE!! – we stayed in the little KOA there and that’s where the camper broke. Our slide-out got stuck in (thankfully in and not out!). If you’ve ever been inside a camper with a slide-out that won’t go out, you know its cramped, to put it lightly. We continued down to Flagstaff, Arizona the next morning for a trip to Grand Canyon National Park and switched our plans to just head home after that. The trip to the Grand Canyon was amazing. It’s hard to wrap your head around how vast it is! The boys especially loved the IMAX film about the history of the canyon, and as a result, have deemed that to be their favorite part of vacation. HA.
Here are our favorite moments from our roadtrip to 3 National Parks in Utah & Arizona!
As we sit under 18ish inches of fresh snow, we’re dreaming up a normal world and hopefully some more trips we can take this next year. We’re thinking of the forest (our land! or the PNW if we’re really feeling ambitious), the desert (Utah again!), more mountains (southwestern Colorado!), and maybe even the Badlands in South Dakota. We’ll see.
Where do you want to go?!
SPEAKING OF GOING PLACES. As it’s safe to do so, we could be convinced to travel wherever our little camper can go. Planning a Moab elopement? We’re in! Wanna get married in the Redwoods? Okay, fine.
Crafting really beautiful films + photos for the wild at heart, Basecamp Visual is a Breckenridge, Colorado based videography and photography company run by us, a husband and wife duo, Dave & Shanna. Are you on the hunt for a creative storytelling team for your upcoming 2021 Colorado (or other amazing places) intimate wedding or elopement – or HECK, just because? Let’s talk about it! Contact us today to learn more.
breckenridge, colorado photographer
It’s a common thought that you need a special occasion and fancy outfits to have photos done. But, guess what? You don’t need to wait for an engagement or your wedding day to have professional photos taken! (Especially when the photographer is your sister!) And even better? You can wear whatever you feel best in.
Corey + Lindsey donned our parents fur coats for the first part of this fun snowy session and it was one of my favorites. We wrapped it up with them in their casual, every day clothes. Simple, carefree, and filled with lots of laughter and spinning in circles. Isn’t that what a photo session should be?
Sometimes these simple sessions are the most fun. There’s no timeline to follow, no stress about the perfect outfit to wear. It’s just you and your person, getting cozy in front of the camera.
Crafting really beautiful films + photos for the wild at heart, Basecamp Visual is a Breckenridge, Colorado based videography and photography company run by husband and wife duo, Dave & Shanna McCann. Are you on the hunt for a creative storytelling team for your upcoming 2021 Colorado intimate wedding or elopement – or HECK, just because? Let’s talk about it! Contact us today to learn more.
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“and i… i love you.”
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Everyone wants to hire their talented best friend to capture their wedding but you can’t make your talented best friend work on your wedding day. So, we had to find some new best friends, through months of internet “dating” *ahem* Instagram “stalking” we found the perfect pair. From the first conference call to the last selfie, Dave and Shanna were THE dynamic, talented best friends to capture our wedding.
Dave and Shanna are remarkable visionaries. Through complications like an avalanche, snow storms, and power outages, they stuck beside us offering solutions while keeping us in good spirits. Their spirited audacity and willingness to go every extra mile just to tell our love story with those authentic moments, means we get to relive our wedding for the rest of our lives. Dave and Shanna aren’t just going to be another vendor at you wedding, they are genuine people who you’re going to want to share the rest of your life with.-Matt + Ginger
When we decided to start officially offering combined photo + video collections for Colorado elopements & intimate weddings, spending days like we did together with Matt + Ginger was the ultimate goal. Despite a wild Spring avalanche that completely covered Bridal Veil Falls (the first ceremony spot) and then getting hit by the craziest Colorado snow storm we’ve yet to experience, knocking out ceremony location number two, and then the same storm forcing us to move their entire portrait session to a different day, everything about Matt + Ginger’s Colorado intimate wedding was straight out of a dream.
Take a look at their teaser film to see what we mean. And then keep on reading.
We spent the early afternoon of their original wedding day at Ginger’s family home, watching the snow fall and the wind blow, desperately trying to decide what to do – postpone the ceremony? Just the portrait session? Maybe they’d just do the ceremony at the house? Nope – the weather was too bad. Matt couldn’t get there, up the mountain. They already had to decide where to move the ceremony to, as the existing locations were no longer feasible. Ultimately, the decision was made to move the ceremony to the local Hotel Telluride, who so graciously allowed the group to host an extremely last minute event, and reschedule the couple’s portrait session for later in the week, in Aspen. It was a whirlwind and SO. MUCH. FUN. Literally couldn’t love these two more.
Matt and Ginger’s love and adoration is bright and lasting and strong, and it was such a honor to witness it all. Through thick and thin, and for better and for worse, sometimes you just know when two people are really meant to be – these two are it.
AND because we know you haven’t quite had enough of these two yet, watch their full elopement film!
You two – thank you. We LOVED meeting you and spending all the days together, documenting this sweet time of your life. You’re the real deal, that’s for sure. Congratulations, again! We love you guys!
Crafting heirloom films + stills for the wild at heart, Basecamp Visual is a Summit County, Colorado based videography and photography company run by husband and wife duo, Dave & Shanna McCann. Are you on the hunt for a creative storytelling team for your upcoming Colorado wedding or elopement? Let’s talk about it! Contact us today to learn more.
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Against my better judgement, I often think back on our own wedding and wonder what I might have done differently if we were planning now. There are likely a million things we’d change – like the date. Late August in the scorching Midwest was a terrible idea, but that’s neither here nor there at this point. OBVIOUSLY the most important change is that I’d wear a bridal cape. I mean, C’MON. I’m completely inspired by Melissa’s wedding style and it’s making me want to hop back in my dress, tie a blanket around my neck (pseudo cape, duh) and twirl and skip around.
This wedding really had it all – gorgeously moody skies, beautiful floral work, a dapper & dancing groom, epic Vail views, detail upon detail, and so, so much more. If you haven’t seen this one yet, set aside 5 minutes today to give it a watch. I’m sure you’ll be just as inspired as we were.
Planning & Design: Courtney Cyr Design + Events
Ceremony Location: Vail Wedding Deck
Reception Location: Sonnenalp Hotel Vail
Floral: Petals & Pours
Dress: Stella York
Hair: Breckenridge Chopping Block
Photography: Clancey
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What makes a great wedding video? What makes your films different? These are questions we’re asked often, and while the answers are largely subjective, we definitely believe there are a few key elements that work together to take a film from meh to amaaaazing. Here are our top 5!
- Professional Audio
Audio is QUEEN in the wedding film industry. All the most beautiful shots in the world won’t mean a thing if the vows are garbled and unclear, if you can’t understand the officiant, or if the toasts are blown out. Through a lot of trial and error (and let’s be honest, we’re still constantly learning ways to refine our processes!) we believe we’ve locked down some fool proof practices to ensure we walk away at the end of the night with quality audio. When you’re looking for a wedding videographer and watching film after film by various artists and companies, make sure you pay attention to the audio. This can truly make or break your film.
- Cohesive Storyline
How difficult is it to watch a movie if the plot doesn’t make sense? If the story is jumping all over and the shots don’t seem to flow? While our clients only see us working on the actual wedding day, the real work of the storytelling takes place in the long hours post wedding, sitting at our computers, culling through every second of footage and carefully piecing them together. Our hope is to draw you in and take you back to the story of your wedding day; to show you shots you had no idea we got; to tell your story in a way that you hadn’t even considered; to exceed your expectations tenfold. A cohesive storyline is HUGE for this.
- Song Choice
We mentioned above that professional audio can make or break an otherwise great film. Song choice is much the same. So many of the most memorable films of our time are largely recalled by their musical score. Think about it – Jaws. Titanic. Star Wars. Incredible imagery complemented by incredible music. We take great care in choosing the perfect songs for each and every film we create. We’re often asked whether clients can choose the song for their films. Copyright and licensing laws aside (and there are lots of them), we really love – and spend A LOT of time – choosing the music for our films and even if it’s not a conscious thing, we firmly believe that a big part of why our clients ultimately end up choosing us is because of the way they feel when they watch our films. The songs we choose greatly impact those strong feelings.
- Use of Quality B-roll
One of our favorite ways to draw viewers into our films is with use of b-roll. Setting the scene for a couples’ day begins with telling the story of where they choose to seal the deal. Environmental shots – a babbling brook; swaying trees; aerial views of the mountains; grass blowing in the wind. These types of shots push the story forward, help establish the overall vibe of the day, and finally, really show off the venue and area that our couples spend so much time choosing. We believe that some well placed b-roll is evvverything in a good wedding film.
- Color-grading
Just as the majority of photographers use a preset at the beginning of their editing process, we use LUTS to set the base color on our films. We’ve developed a select few LUTS that closely matches our photo editing, so when you choose to book us for both, your film and your image gallery will be delivered in the same editing style. Of all 5 of our points, this is the most subjective, but we personally LOVE a consistent photo gallery, so why should we allow a film to be any different? When you’re searching for the perfect storyteller for your wedding or elopement day, pay attention to the coloring from clip to clip. Is it consistent? Does it match with your personal style?
Basecamp Visual is a Colorado based husband and wife photography and videography team run by us, David & Shanna McCann. We place the highest value on storytelling and preserving life’s beautifully fleeting moments, and take great pride in crafting heirloom style galleries and films. We are enthusiastically booking 2019 + 2020 weddings and elopements and would LOVE to join you for your big day – get in touch to learn more and get your date locked down!
